Former Senator Jon Kyl joins Covington & Burling

Covington & Burling has added a high-ranking former politician to its ranks.

The firm announced yesterday that former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, who left Congress in January, joined the law firm as a senior adviser in its global public policy and government affairs practice (according to the firm, Kyl will become senior counsel after he is cleared for readmission to the bar). Kyl, who began his new position on Monday, is based in the firm’s D.C. office.

Kyl was the second-highest ranking Republican in the Senate. He spent 26 years in Congress, having served 18 years in the Senate and eight years in the House.

According to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Kyl’s work at Covington will involve advising clients on tax, health care, defense, national security and intellectual property matters. He’ll also advise clients on cybersecurity standards, an important issue in the wake of President Obama’s cybersecurity order. When he was a senator, Kyl had pushed for legislation that would give companies liability protection when sharing sensitive information concerning security threats and cyber attacks.

Kyl told the Law Blog that he is returning to the legal sector at a time when businesses are confronting regulatory uncertainty and “turning more and more to folks like myself” for guidance.